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NYC pol Andy King eyed by ethics panel over ‘unwelcome attention’

The councilman asked the woman to “smile more,” and invited her to a winter ball, the Standards and Ethics Committee chairman said.

An ethics panel is probing whether New York City Councilman Andy King of the Bronx "paid unwelcome attention" to a female staffer, asking her repeatedly to "smile more" and inviting her to a winter ball, where he said he hoped she would wear a "beautiful gown," the panel's chairman said Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018. (Credit: Newsday / Matthew Chayes)

An ethics panel is probing whether New York City Councilman Andy King of the Bronx “paid unwelcome attention” to a female staffer, asking her repeatedly to “smile more” and inviting her to a winter ball, where he said he hoped she would wear a “beautiful gown,” the panel’s chairman said Wednesday.

The Standards and Ethics Committee must decide whether to punish King, a Democrat. Penalties could include expulsion, fines or other sanctions.

Councilman Steven Matteo, a Staten Island Republican who chairs the ethics committee, outlined the allegations after returning from an hourlong executive session.

According to the allegations, “King paid unwelcome attention to her . . . [and] repeatedly asked the employee to smile more while shaking her hand and keeping an extended grip on her hand until she smiled.”

Also, King, after a committee hearing, “asked the employee for a personal phone number in connection with the council member inviting her to a winter ball fundraising gala, and stating he would like to see her in a beautiful gown at the event,” according to the allegations.

Matteo, who said the panel would meet in the future on the issue, but didn’t specify a time frame and did not say when the alleged misconduct occurred.

King could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The last council member to be disciplined for sexual misconduct was Allan W. Jennings Jr., who was found in 2005 to have harassed two female subordinates. He was fined $5,000 and ordered to attend sensitivity training and anger management coaching. He was also stripped of committee assignments and censured.

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The inquiry concluded that Jennings had demanded that one aide clean his home and gave another a pornographic gift, as well as asked them out on dates, made lewd comments and touched them inappropriately, according to contemporaneous news accounts.